So I have been messing around with Clerics lately and I just don't understand why I didn't start play these things sooner! I am totally overwhelmed by the endless possibilities and options you have character builds... The one thing I struggled with was an Optimized Melee fighter Cleric... reading through the Core rules it seemed like the game wanted to force you on over to Paladin and I am no fan of the Oath mechanic... Well one six pack later I bring you the Battle Priest...
Level 1: Cleric to Start.
Human Variant: +1 into Wis and +1 Into Str. Take the Heavy Armor Master Feat. +1 more to STR -3 DMG to Any non magic damage you take. Not bad.
Level 1: Stat Block Str: 16 , Dex 12, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 10
Chainmail + Sheild = 18 AC - Can be pumped to 20 with Spells but probably not needed as most enemies don't deal magic weapon dm at early levels.
After this go fighter until Level 5 ( You want extra attack)
Fighting Style: + 1 to AC
Fighter Level 3: Take Battlemaster
Fighter Level 4: You are probably better off taking ASI but you could add a feat here
Fighter Level 5: We can attack 2x
After that go the rest of your levels in Cleric but at level 6 you are going to be able to attack 3 x a turn for about 4 (3 if you took a feat) turns.
Your damage will continue to scale as you level up Cleric for buffs, you could use spirtual weapon in place of Bonus Action Attack from War Priest as well.
I did fool around a bit with GWF/GWM but I feel a battle priest would be in there tanking damage and the +2 AC is just too sweet to give up IMO.
Another Option I messed with was taking the Mountanted Combant Feat and building a Cavelric, this one works better with the Knight (UA) vs the Cavalier as the Knight uses his reaction instead of his Bonus Action, and let's be honest, we have enough to do with our bonus actions :)
For that first level feat, war caster is much more useful if you want to be able to cast without learning to juggle. And I'm lukewarm on HAM. Lots of people like it, and it's great at low levels, but I find its value tapers off once you hit level 9-10ish, and then falls off a cliff once you hit high levels and enemies have magic weapons and/or are doing elemental damage. My last character, (a cleric) took it at 8th level, and I found it useful at first, but not for very long, to the point I almost forgot to use it since it was coming into play so rarely.
Also, I'd say just stick straight Cleric. Fighter gives you cool options, no doubt, but 5 levels of it leaves you way behind in your spell progression. I'm not saying your plan wouldn't work, its just its not a trade off I would take. Go war, forge or tempest cleric and you'll be a really good front line battle priest without any fighter levels.
I can see that about HAM but we are taking for both +1 STR and the -3 DMG at level 1, so basically we make our Race a +2 STR +1 WIS with a built in feature that reduce dmg by 3. I looked at the higher level cleric spells and im sorry but losing level 8 and 9 spells for the benefits of 5 levels of fighter seemed like a great trade off to me.
And yes we lose Avatar of battle , but we do have HAM to compensate a bit.
You will get more Attacks, or the same and more spells at higher levels, the Paladin tops at 5th level casting, this build will top off at 7th level. Hope that helps!
It's not worth it to multi-class into Fighter for 5 levels to get Extra Attack. You're taking so much longer to get access to Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians. With these two spells, as well as your Divine Strike, you don't need Extra Attack. You're also taking a much longer time to get access to higher level spells such as Holy Weapon.
Heavy Armor Master is great at tier 1, but once you get to tier 2 or tier 3, it's not nearly as useful.
Again, without warcaster, you won’t be casting any spells (Well, almost any spells) without some annoying drop weapon, cast, pick it up or draw another weapon shenanigans. and it’s not just losing the level 8 and 9 spells, it’s being way behind the curve on spell levels. As a 6th level cleric, you’ve got a few 3rd level spells to throw around. As a cleric1/fighter5, you only have level 1 spells. By stopping at fighter 5, you’ve only gotten one ASI, and your next one is 3 levels away, assuming you stay cleric from there on out. And as Gabriel points out, with spiritual weapon, you can already have 2 attacks a round. And if you stay pure cleric, you can upcast it to the point where it’s probably better than your regular melee attacks. Now, if you want to consider yourself more a fighter, who can cast a couple spells for some self healing/buffing/ keeping other characters alive (but still really should take warcaster) then it’s a pretty cool build.
Hey, the tone's getting uncivil. I'll back his want to get Heavy Armor Master, it's a feat that gives +1 Str, and it's a game changer at low levels, and only really peters out much later. As a variant human getting it at level 1, it's probably the best case scenario for that feat, in fact pretty optimal
War Caster is not vital if you want to cast V or VSM. Only VS is tricky, but you can use your free action to stow your weapon or withdraw it, so it's not impossible without micromanage it, it's absolutely false that you have to physically drop it. That's misleading information
Ranger 5/Cleric X is pretty legitimate to me, especially if it's war cleric or life cleric, so I'm not completely against multi 5 for double attack. Personally it feels like everything you want to do is covered by the Paladin subclass...except for the action surge. I guess I'm just more interested at why you think Paladin's Oath is distasteful. I'm just very curious why not Paladin
Again, without warcaster, you won’t be casting any spells (Well, almost any spells) without some annoying drop weapon, cast, pick it up or draw another weapon shenanigans. and it’s not just losing the level 8 and 9 spells, it’s being way behind the curve on spell levels. As a 6th level cleric, you’ve got a few 3rd level spells to throw around. As a cleric1/fighter5, you only have level 1 spells
So, with the build you get a better Action Economy...
1 Attack Action = 2 Attack
1 Bonus Action = War Priest Bonus Attack or Spiritual Weapon(Lvl 8 required).
You can still cast great spells like "Sheild of Faith" prior to (or at the beginning) combat for a +2 AC (from level 1 onwards) this brings your AC to 20. While it is Concentration I can't imagine that much actually hitting a 20 AC , the odds are in your favour. If you are that worried about it you could take your first level in Fighter and get Prof in CON Saves... I have just never had an issue with this personally.
As a 6th Level Cleric - That's great and you are right you do get more spells, if you find the game more enjoyable playing that way. Go for it.
Almost every DM I have ever played with has allowed me to have my "Holy Symbol" on my shield. Never had to drop a weapon, but if that's your groups idea of fun this might not work.
Yes, Cleric 3 Fighter 5 is more powerful than Cleric 3. But that's not a fair comparison. Instead, compare Cleric 3 Fighter 5 to Cleric 8. You're comparing apples to oranges. Or, since it appears that you're building a character only for tier 1, just compare Cleric 1 Fighter X-1 to Cleric X
It's quite easy for enemies to hit 20 AC, especially once you get into tier 2. Enemies have +8 or +10 to hit quite often. And they're hitting for 15+ quite often. I've got a Ranger 3 Rogue 3 right now that has had 20 AC since level 2, and I'm far from invincible. And that's despite having +6 to Dexterity Saving throws as well.
And as you progress in tier 2, you're also running into more enemies with magical weapons that completely negate Heavy Armor Master, and you're also running into more enemies that are making you do saving throws to avoid damage instead of enemies that are just going up against your AC.
Lastly, having to drop your weapon isn't about what a group's idea of fun is. It's a core part of the rules, and it requires a feat to bypass this limitation if you want to run around holding both a shield and a weapon. If your DMs are giving you 1/3rd of the war caster feat for free, then obviously the war caster feat becomes much less useful.
What do you mean I'm comparing a Cleric 3 to a Cleric 3/Fighter 5? Where did I do that? Thanks.
Again - If you don't think HAM is worth it get War Caster instead, pretty easy solve and might actually be the better the choice regardless as it doesn't fall off later levelslike HAM. Personally i think i would take it as a 2nd feat instead of ASI.
Lastly, I would think by the time you hit level 6 you do have something bit better than Chainmail, but who knows.
You talked about better action economy, and you gave your Fighter-Cleric Extra Attack and Spiritual Weapon, but you didn't compare it to a Cleric having Spirit Guardians and Divine Strike and possibly Holy Weapon.
I feel you still have the extra action economy regardless, Divine Strike is additonal Damage not an extra action - I feel that is actually a pretty big difference, its kinda like a Rogue's sneak attack - If you hit great, if you don't it does nothing. Also don't forget the higher level we get and compare we both will max this out 2d8, but I have 3 chances to proc this vs your two. You could potentialy upcast spirit weapon a bit higher but at max thats an extra 2d8. With the build at higher level you still have the ability to cast things like Spirit Guardians, albeit delayed to 11th.
Level 8 to Level 8 Better Action Econ
Your proposal Turn 1:
Cast Spiritual Weapon or do you want to cast Holy Weapon? They both have a casting time of 1 Bonus Action so you can't do both in the same turn. I'd assume you would want the Holy Weapon? You also use your action to cast Spirit Guardians and this would be the only damage dealt in Turn 1.
Turn 2: SG would proc again automatically assuming you maintained concentration. AA or another spell for 1 action, You can now cast Spirtual Weapon.
Maybe you misread the War Cleric's level 1 ability. You can do a Bonus Action attack a number of times equal to your Wisdom Modifier, and you regain all expended uses on a Long Rest. Assuming that you're making Strength or Dexterity your top attribute, that means only three times per long rest do you get to do the Bonus Action attack. With Spiritual Weapon available, this won't be much of an issue. But you don't get Spiritual Weapon until level 8, and that is an issue. In most campaigns, it takes a fair amount of time to get to level 8.
You're also not getting Diving Strike until level 13, and you're not getting the improved Divine Strike until level 19. A pure Cleric gets Divine Strike at level 8, and improved Divine Strike at level 14. That's a very long time that the Cleric has Divine Strike while your multiclass does not, and the level after you get Divine Strike, the Cleric gets an improved Divine Strike. Again, you're acting like you're trying to compare a level 8 Cleric with a level 13 Cleric-Fighter multiclass instead of comparing it to a level 8 Cleric-Fighter multiclass.
For an apples to apples comparison, compare your multi-class with a pure cleric of the same level
Level 2: Cleric 2: Gets Channel Divinity, has 3 spell slots Cleric 1 Fighter 1: Gets Fighting Style, Second Wind once per short rest, still has 2 spell slots
Level 3: Cleric 3: Gets Spiritual Weapon twice per day, now has 6 spell slots Cleric 1 Fighter 2: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, still has just 2 spell slots, still doesn't get extra attack
Level 4: Cleric 4: Gets a feat, has Spiritual Weapon three times per day, now has 7 spell slots, Cleric 1 Fighter 3: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, Gets to choose an archetype, still has just 2 spell slots, still doesn't get extra attack
Level 5: Cleric 5: Gets Spirit Guardians twice per day, Spiritual Weapon three times per day, now has 9 spell slots Cleric 1 Fighter 4: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, Gets a feat, still has just 2 spell slots, still doesn't get extra attack
Level 6: Cleric 6: Gets Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon three times per day, now has 10 spell slots, gets its Channel Divinity twice per short rest Cleric 1 Fighter 5: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, still has just 2 spell slots, finally gets extra attack
Level 7: Cleric 7: Gets Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon three times per day (more if using a 4th level spell slot to upcast), now has 11 spell slots, gets its Channel Divinity twice per short rest, gets 4th level spells Cleric 2 Fighter 5: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, has 3 spell slots, has extra attack, gets Channel Divinity once per short rest
Level 8: Cleric 8: Gets Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon three times per day (more if using a 4th level spell slot to upcast), now has 12 spell slots, gets its Channel Divinity twice per short rest, gets 4th level spells, gets Divine Strike, gets a feat Cleric 3 Fighter 5: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, has 6 spell slots, has extra attack, gets Channel Divinity once per short rest, gets Spiritual Weapon twice per day
Just wondering out of comprehensiveness: have you thought of Ranger 5? Losing Action surge for 2 tiers of WIS spell slots for upcasting things like Hold Person or Ensnaring Strike. Though I'll admit ranger's bonus action economy is pretty messy if you're going heavy into spiritual weapon.
Another consideration is starting with Fighter for the CON save as previously mentioned... it sounds decent if you're consistently in melee, unless you're not relying on concentration spells.
I like how you mapped it out, and it's pretty obvious you know what you're doing. I'm starting to like idea over Paladin. It's more of RP'ing battle master/war cleric as a captain or chaplain theme as well. I can dig it.
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So I have been messing around with Clerics lately and I just don't understand why I didn't start play these things sooner! I am totally overwhelmed by the endless possibilities and options you have character builds... The one thing I struggled with was an Optimized Melee fighter Cleric... reading through the Core rules it seemed like the game wanted to force you on over to Paladin and I am no fan of the Oath mechanic... Well one six pack later I bring you the Battle Priest...
Level 1: Cleric to Start.
Human Variant: +1 into Wis and +1 Into Str. Take the Heavy Armor Master Feat. +1 more to STR -3 DMG to Any non magic damage you take. Not bad.
Level 1: Stat Block Str: 16 , Dex 12, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 10
Chainmail + Sheild = 18 AC - Can be pumped to 20 with Spells but probably not needed as most enemies don't deal magic weapon dm at early levels.
After this go fighter until Level 5 ( You want extra attack)
Fighting Style: + 1 to AC
Fighter Level 3: Take Battlemaster
Fighter Level 4: You are probably better off taking ASI but you could add a feat here
Fighter Level 5: We can attack 2x
After that go the rest of your levels in Cleric but at level 6 you are going to be able to attack 3 x a turn for about 4 (3 if you took a feat) turns.
Your damage will continue to scale as you level up Cleric for buffs, you could use spirtual weapon in place of Bonus Action Attack from War Priest as well.
I did fool around a bit with GWF/GWM but I feel a battle priest would be in there tanking damage and the +2 AC is just too sweet to give up IMO.
Another Option I messed with was taking the Mountanted Combant Feat and building a Cavelric, this one works better with the Knight (UA) vs the Cavalier as the Knight uses his reaction instead of his Bonus Action, and let's be honest, we have enough to do with our bonus actions :)
Any ideas?
For that first level feat, war caster is much more useful if you want to be able to cast without learning to juggle. And I'm lukewarm on HAM. Lots of people like it, and it's great at low levels, but I find its value tapers off once you hit level 9-10ish, and then falls off a cliff once you hit high levels and enemies have magic weapons and/or are doing elemental damage. My last character, (a cleric) took it at 8th level, and I found it useful at first, but not for very long, to the point I almost forgot to use it since it was coming into play so rarely.
Also, I'd say just stick straight Cleric. Fighter gives you cool options, no doubt, but 5 levels of it leaves you way behind in your spell progression. I'm not saying your plan wouldn't work, its just its not a trade off I would take. Go war, forge or tempest cleric and you'll be a really good front line battle priest without any fighter levels.
I can see that about HAM but we are taking for both +1 STR and the -3 DMG at level 1, so basically we make our Race a +2 STR +1 WIS with a built in feature that reduce dmg by 3. I looked at the higher level cleric spells and im sorry but losing level 8 and 9 spells for the benefits of 5 levels of fighter seemed like a great trade off to me.
And yes we lose Avatar of battle , but we do have HAM to compensate a bit.
So what's the benefit of this build vs being a Paladin?
Great question,
You will get more Attacks, or the same and more spells at higher levels, the Paladin tops at 5th level casting, this build will top off at 7th level. Hope that helps!
It's not worth it to multi-class into Fighter for 5 levels to get Extra Attack. You're taking so much longer to get access to Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians. With these two spells, as well as your Divine Strike, you don't need Extra Attack. You're also taking a much longer time to get access to higher level spells such as Holy Weapon.
Heavy Armor Master is great at tier 1, but once you get to tier 2 or tier 3, it's not nearly as useful.
Again, without warcaster, you won’t be casting any spells (Well, almost any spells) without some annoying drop weapon, cast, pick it up or draw another weapon shenanigans.
and it’s not just losing the level 8 and 9 spells, it’s being way behind the curve on spell levels. As a 6th level cleric, you’ve got a few 3rd level spells to throw around. As a cleric1/fighter5, you only have level 1 spells. By stopping at fighter 5, you’ve only gotten one ASI, and your next one is 3 levels away, assuming you stay cleric from there on out.
And as Gabriel points out, with spiritual weapon, you can already have 2 attacks a round. And if you stay pure cleric, you can upcast it to the point where it’s probably better than your regular melee attacks.
Now, if you want to consider yourself more a fighter, who can cast a couple spells for some self healing/buffing/ keeping other characters alive (but still really should take warcaster) then it’s a pretty cool build.
Hey, the tone's getting uncivil. I'll back his want to get Heavy Armor Master, it's a feat that gives +1 Str, and it's a game changer at low levels, and only really peters out much later. As a variant human getting it at level 1, it's probably the best case scenario for that feat, in fact pretty optimal
War Caster is not vital if you want to cast V or VSM. Only VS is tricky, but you can use your free action to stow your weapon or withdraw it, so it's not impossible without micromanage it, it's absolutely false that you have to physically drop it. That's misleading information
Ranger 5/Cleric X is pretty legitimate to me, especially if it's war cleric or life cleric, so I'm not completely against multi 5 for double attack. Personally it feels like everything you want to do is covered by the Paladin subclass...except for the action surge. I guess I'm just more interested at why you think Paladin's Oath is distasteful. I'm just very curious why not Paladin
So, with the build you get a better Action Economy...
1 Attack Action = 2 Attack
1 Bonus Action = War Priest Bonus Attack or Spiritual Weapon(Lvl 8 required).
You can still cast great spells like "Sheild of Faith" prior to (or at the beginning) combat for a +2 AC (from level 1 onwards) this brings your AC to 20. While it is Concentration I can't imagine that much actually hitting a 20 AC , the odds are in your favour. If you are that worried about it you could take your first level in Fighter and get Prof in CON Saves... I have just never had an issue with this personally.
As a 6th Level Cleric - That's great and you are right you do get more spells, if you find the game more enjoyable playing that way. Go for it.
Almost every DM I have ever played with has allowed me to have my "Holy Symbol" on my shield. Never had to drop a weapon, but if that's your groups idea of fun this might not work.
Yes, Cleric 3 Fighter 5 is more powerful than Cleric 3. But that's not a fair comparison. Instead, compare Cleric 3 Fighter 5 to Cleric 8. You're comparing apples to oranges. Or, since it appears that you're building a character only for tier 1, just compare Cleric 1 Fighter X-1 to Cleric X
It's quite easy for enemies to hit 20 AC, especially once you get into tier 2. Enemies have +8 or +10 to hit quite often. And they're hitting for 15+ quite often. I've got a Ranger 3 Rogue 3 right now that has had 20 AC since level 2, and I'm far from invincible. And that's despite having +6 to Dexterity Saving throws as well.
And as you progress in tier 2, you're also running into more enemies with magical weapons that completely negate Heavy Armor Master, and you're also running into more enemies that are making you do saving throws to avoid damage instead of enemies that are just going up against your AC.
Lastly, having to drop your weapon isn't about what a group's idea of fun is. It's a core part of the rules, and it requires a feat to bypass this limitation if you want to run around holding both a shield and a weapon. If your DMs are giving you 1/3rd of the war caster feat for free, then obviously the war caster feat becomes much less useful.
What do you mean I'm comparing a Cleric 3 to a Cleric 3/Fighter 5? Where did I do that? Thanks.
Again - If you don't think HAM is worth it get War Caster instead, pretty easy solve and might actually be the better the choice regardless as it doesn't fall off later levelslike HAM. Personally i think i would take it as a 2nd feat instead of ASI.
Lastly, I would think by the time you hit level 6 you do have something bit better than Chainmail, but who knows.
You talked about better action economy, and you gave your Fighter-Cleric Extra Attack and Spiritual Weapon, but you didn't compare it to a Cleric having Spirit Guardians and Divine Strike and possibly Holy Weapon.
I feel you still have the extra action economy regardless, Divine Strike is additonal Damage not an extra action - I feel that is actually a pretty big difference, its kinda like a Rogue's sneak attack - If you hit great, if you don't it does nothing. Also don't forget the higher level we get and compare we both will max this out 2d8, but I have 3 chances to proc this vs your two. You could potentialy upcast spirit weapon a bit higher but at max thats an extra 2d8. With the build at higher level you still have the ability to cast things like Spirit Guardians, albeit delayed to 11th.
Level 8 to Level 8 Better Action Econ
Your proposal Turn 1:
Cast Spiritual Weapon or do you want to cast Holy Weapon? They both have a casting time of 1 Bonus Action so you can't do both in the same turn. I'd assume you would want the Holy Weapon? You also use your action to cast Spirit Guardians and this would be the only damage dealt in Turn 1.
Turn 2: SG would proc again automatically assuming you maintained concentration. AA or another spell for 1 action, You can now cast Spirtual Weapon.
My Proposal:
Turn 1:
Attack 3 x. Action Surge - Attack 2x + spirit weapon
Turn 2 and onwards
Attack 3x or 2x with SW
No matter how you slice you are going to have better action economy.
Like I get what you are saying but I still don't feel that is the optimal melee based cleric and its pretty standard and boring.
Maybe you misread the War Cleric's level 1 ability. You can do a Bonus Action attack a number of times equal to your Wisdom Modifier, and you regain all expended uses on a Long Rest. Assuming that you're making Strength or Dexterity your top attribute, that means only three times per long rest do you get to do the Bonus Action attack. With Spiritual Weapon available, this won't be much of an issue. But you don't get Spiritual Weapon until level 8, and that is an issue. In most campaigns, it takes a fair amount of time to get to level 8.
You're also not getting Diving Strike until level 13, and you're not getting the improved Divine Strike until level 19. A pure Cleric gets Divine Strike at level 8, and improved Divine Strike at level 14. That's a very long time that the Cleric has Divine Strike while your multiclass does not, and the level after you get Divine Strike, the Cleric gets an improved Divine Strike. Again, you're acting like you're trying to compare a level 8 Cleric with a level 13 Cleric-Fighter multiclass instead of comparing it to a level 8 Cleric-Fighter multiclass.
For an apples to apples comparison, compare your multi-class with a pure cleric of the same level
Level 2:
Cleric 2: Gets Channel Divinity, has 3 spell slots
Cleric 1 Fighter 1: Gets Fighting Style, Second Wind once per short rest, still has 2 spell slots
Level 3:
Cleric 3: Gets Spiritual Weapon twice per day, now has 6 spell slots
Cleric 1 Fighter 2: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, still has just 2 spell slots, still doesn't get extra attack
Level 4:
Cleric 4: Gets a feat, has Spiritual Weapon three times per day, now has 7 spell slots,
Cleric 1 Fighter 3: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, Gets to choose an archetype, still has just 2 spell slots, still doesn't get extra attack
Level 5:
Cleric 5: Gets Spirit Guardians twice per day, Spiritual Weapon three times per day, now has 9 spell slots
Cleric 1 Fighter 4: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, Gets a feat, still has just 2 spell slots, still doesn't get extra attack
Level 6:
Cleric 6: Gets Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon three times per day, now has 10 spell slots, gets its Channel Divinity twice per short rest
Cleric 1 Fighter 5: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, still has just 2 spell slots, finally gets extra attack
Level 7:
Cleric 7: Gets Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon three times per day (more if using a 4th level spell slot to upcast), now has 11 spell slots, gets its Channel Divinity twice per short rest, gets 4th level spells
Cleric 2 Fighter 5: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, has 3 spell slots, has extra attack, gets Channel Divinity once per short rest
Level 8:
Cleric 8: Gets Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon three times per day (more if using a 4th level spell slot to upcast), now has 12 spell slots, gets its Channel Divinity twice per short rest, gets 4th level spells, gets Divine Strike, gets a feat
Cleric 3 Fighter 5: Gets Action Surge and Second Wind once per short rest, has 6 spell slots, has extra attack, gets Channel Divinity once per short rest, gets Spiritual Weapon twice per day
And so on....
Just wondering out of comprehensiveness: have you thought of Ranger 5? Losing Action surge for 2 tiers of WIS spell slots for upcasting things like Hold Person or Ensnaring Strike. Though I'll admit ranger's bonus action economy is pretty messy if you're going heavy into spiritual weapon.
Another consideration is starting with Fighter for the CON save as previously mentioned... it sounds decent if you're consistently in melee, unless you're not relying on concentration spells.
I like how you mapped it out, and it's pretty obvious you know what you're doing. I'm starting to like idea over Paladin. It's more of RP'ing battle master/war cleric as a captain or chaplain theme as well. I can dig it.